


We Don't Deserve Love

by paintedgolden



Category: Taylor Swift (Musician)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-05-13
Packaged: 2019-03-23 15:36:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13790754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paintedgolden/pseuds/paintedgolden
Summary: Romeo and Juliet minus the death and heterosexuality.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a cliche.

“Why would they do that to me?” Derek fumes as he paces the length of his bedroom. “Do I look like some bargaining piece?”

“Life could be worse.” Karlie reasons, her eyes trained on her best friend as he tugs at the roots of his hair.

“What could be worse than this?”

“At least she’s cute. It should be easy for you to at least feign interest.”

“She’s not my type.” Derek’s lips curl down at the edges, disgust clear on his face.

“Of course not. She probably doesn’t play rugby, and she’s missing the whole scruffy beard look that you like, but as far as women go…she’s ideal.” Karlie has seen pictures of the girl that Derek’s parents have forced on him, and she thinks her friend has been dealt a decent hand.

“You would think so.” Derek scoffs harshly. “Take my place if you think she’s so perfect.”

Karlie tilts her head to the side, as if considering the offer. She hums softly, her eyes still trained on the program that she’s been working through for days. She’s only been half-listening to Derek’s meltdown, but now her curiosity is genuinely piqued.

“I don’t think it works that way,” she muses.

“Why not? You’re a better catch. Your last name holds more weight than mine, and if the rumors are true, she’d prefer you over me anyway.” Derek is talking at full speed now, his hands flailing around to drive his point home.

“I’m sure her family will think that I’m lacking some necessary equipment.”

“The only equipment they care about is bank account numbers. I don’t know why they chose me, I’m not even inheriting the family business! I don’t want it, and even if I did…my dad would never give it to me.” Derek goes back to pulling at his hair.

Derek resumes his pacing, and Karlie can’t help but pity him. Her parents would never dream of doing something like this to her. They were newer money, looking down on the stuffy practices that the rest of the blue bloods in this country loved to dabble in. They weren’t ashamed of her lifestyle and they let her pave her own way. She worked for the family business because she _wanted_ to, not because it was expected of her.

Derek wasn’t so lucky. His relationship with his family was cold and distant. He considered himself lucky if his father remembered his birthday, and even luckier if the man actually cared. Derek had wanted to study journalism at New York University but his parents put a quick stop to that pipe dream. Journalism wasn’t a noble enough profession, and NYU was below the Blasberg family’s standards. So Derek majored got a degree in Business and went to his father’s alma mater. He was just another cog in the machine, and Karlie could do nothing but lend him her shoulder and pity him.

“You know I would help if I could, Derek.”

“Maybe you could talk to your parents? Have them reach out to the Swifts and strike a better deal?” Derek sounds desperate.

“Even if they wanted to…we don’t believe in that stuff. Marriage isn’t some chess game. This isn’t Victorian-era England. What happened to meeting someone in a coffee shop and sparking up a conversation? Or meeting through mutual friends? Is that not a thing anymore?!”

“For normal people, maybe.” Derek shrugs.

“What constitutes normal?”

Derek groans loudly, having heard this conversation a hundred times before. “Karlie, spare me the ‘I-minored-in-sociology’ rant, please. My life is over and you want to talk about social constructs.”

“Your life isn’t…”

“It is. I’m never going to get my happy ending because my life has been mapped out since I was conceived. You don’t understand what that’s like. You get all of the perks but none of the drawbacks.” Defeat weighs Derek’s shoulders down.

Karlie sits there for a moment, her work all but forgotten as her protective instincts kick in. It was ridiculous to be protective over Derek. He was a year older than her and could fend for himself, but not when it came to his family. Karlie has been helping him fight his battles since they were in grade school.

This wouldn’t be any different.

“When are you meeting her?” She asks, the gears starting to turn in her head.

“Hell if I know. My family doesn’t tell me anything.”

A beat of silence follows, and then Karlie closes her laptop and gets to her feet. “I’ll figure something out.”

“What are you going to do?” A hint of hope has creeped into Derek’s voice.

“I don’t know yet, but I’ll get you out of this. I swear.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

“You want to do what?” Karlie’s dad sits his medical journal down, his thick glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose.

“I want to meet the Swift’s daughter. The oldest one.” Karlie repeats herself, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible.

“They only have one.” Kurt points out.

“Oh.” Karlie shrugs, undeterred. “Well, I want to meet her.”

“And you’re telling us this because…”

“So you can help arrange it. I can’t just look her up in the phonebook and give her a call. Aren’t there, like, channels to go through?” Karlie doesn’t want to appear as clueless as she is, but she doesn’t think it’s working. Her parents share a strange look with one another, and then her mom turns to her.

“Andrea and I are in a book club that meets a couple times a month. I’ll ask her at the next one.”

“What? When’s the next meeting?” Karlie perks up, wondering why she never knew this piece of information. It’s not like she would have cared before today, but it still would have been nice to know.

“In about a week, maybe a little more. I really have to check my schedule.” Tracy trails off, and then she and Karlie’s father start to discuss how busy the upcoming week was going to be for the company.

They would do that often. Everything always came back to the family business in some shape or form, and they were both obsessed with it. Karlie sat there and endured it for a moment, trying to figure out how to best approach this situation. She couldn’t wait a week. Derek wouldn’t last a week.

“But I can’t wait that long.” Karlie interrupts her parents’ discussion.

“Well why not? What’s so important? You don’t even know the girl, and I think you’ve only met Andrea and Scott once or twice before.”

“I can’t say yet.”

“We can’t help you, darling. You’re your own woman, and you’re more than capable of handling your own affairs.” Tracy concludes.

“We don’t know what you’re up to, but leave the Swift’s daughter out of it.” Kurt is blunter, refusing to mince words. “They’re very particular, and we don’t want any trouble with them. They have more sway than you think.”

Karlie wants to fight back. She’s not someone who backs down easily, but she knows when to cut her losses with her parents. She leaves her family’s sitting room with determination burning in her chest.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Their paths cross in the strangest way.

Karlie is rushing to work one morning, barreling through traffic to get her caffeine fix before she’s shackled to her desk for ten hours. She’s talking to her assistant through the Bluetooth attached to her right ear, and she figures she must look like a mad-woman when she rushes into her usual coffee shop. She skips over the line, beckoning towards one of the baristas who she’s very familiar with.

“Running late?” The dark-haired girl smiles, looking oddly at ease even though a dozen or so people are grumbling about being left waiting.

“That’s an understatement.” Karlie picks up the cup of coffee that she assumes is hers. The barista – whose name still escapes her – usually has Karlie’s order ready every morning so she can skip the line and get to work.

“Oh wait, I don’t think…–”

Karlie has lifted the cup to her lips, eager to get some caffeine in her to make up for the late night she pulled yesterday. It takes all her willpower to not spit it out right after.

“Jesus Christ! What is this?!” Karlie rips the lid off the coffee cup to look inside.

“A large hot coffee with four pumps of caramel, three pumps of skim milk, and two teaspoons of Splenda.” The voice comes from behind her, and Karlie turns her head and sees a blonde woman standing there. She looks a tad annoyed, her expression pinched in a way that makes it look as if she’s just smelled something bad.

“It’s fucking awful.” Karlie is still cringing at the aftertaste.

“I’m so sorry about the mix up, Karlie. This one is yours.” The barista hands her a similar looking cup of coffee, taking the defected one back. “I’ll remake your cup right now, Miss Swift.” She adds.

“Take your time, I’m not in a rush.” The blonde smiles, but it doesn’t reach her blue eyes. In fact, Karlie doesn’t think she’s ever seen eyes quite so cold. It’s like looking at a shark.

Karlie doesn’t know how she knows that this is the woman that she’s been trying to find. There were a few Swifts running around New York, and there were no indications that this was the girl, but Karlie just _knew_.

She ends up standing there with no particular goal in mind, trying to figure out the most appropriate course of action.

“Can I help you with something?” Ice blue eyes pierce through her, stripping away every witty phrase that Karlie could possibly come up with.

“Uh…”

“I’ll take that as a ‘no’, so I’d appreciate it if you’d stop gawking at me. Thank you.”

“My name’s Karlie. Karlie Kloss.” A beat of silence passes, so she decides to clarify. “Derek’s my best friend.”

“I’ve heard of your family, but I don’t know anyone named Derek.”

“Blasberg. Dark hair, great jawline, extremely homosexual. His parents recently forced him into some weird arranged contract with your family. Any of this ringing a bell?”

“Oh. Him.”

“Yeah, that guy. So…listen, I know this is sudden, and you and I don’t know each other at all but…he’s miserable, okay?”

Their conversation is interrupted when the blonde’s coffee is handed to her by the flustered barista. Taylor quickly hands over a handful of bills, not even bothering to count it out, and she’s already turning away before Karlie can regain her mental footing.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate for us to be discussing my love life. Like you said, we don’t know one another.”

Karlie all but runs after the woman to match her stride. She doubts that she’ll get another opportunity to help Derek if she lets this one slip by. She has to persist.

“Love life?” Karlie scoffs. “No offense but…where’s the love? He doesn’t want to date you.”

“And I don’t want to pretend like I’m interested in him either, but life is built on sacrifices. You don’t see me crying about it.” 

When they get outside Karlie almost runs into a burly guy standing by the door. He glances at her critically, as if trying to discern if she’s a pest. It doesn’t take a genius to see that he’s some kind of bodyguard.

“He’s afraid to stand up to his family. Just like you’re too scared to stand up to yours.”

Her words hit a nerve. The blonde glowers at her, and Karlie is certain she’d be dead if looks could kill.

“I’m done talking to you. Have a nice day. Or don’t.”

Karlie stands there on the sidewalk, feeling hopeless as the blonde ducks into the back of a blacked-out SUV.

“I didn’t mean to offend you or anything, okay? I’m just…I’m grasping at straws here. I want to get my friend out of this situation. I want to help him, and I think I’d be helping you too.” She thinks the blonde is going to close the door. She’d probably do the same if some person she didn’t know had cornered her in some coffee shop at eight in the morning.

“Why would you want to help me?”

“No one deserves to live like this. Not even a cold fish like you.” Karlie smiles, hoping there’s a sense of humor somewhere under the blonde’s icy exterior.

It’s her lucky day.

“Get my number from my driver.” The blonde reaches out to close her door, a ghost of a smile on her face.

“Have a nice day, Miss Swift.”

“Just call me Taylor.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

  
They grab coffee that following weekend. Karlie has brought along a manila folder for the occasion, and she’s surprised when she finds out that Taylor has done the same. They hadn’t discussed what they would be talking about over coffee, but maybe the blonde just liked to be prepared for anything.

“What’s in the folder?” Karlie asks as she eyes the papers that Taylor has started to retrieve.

“A non-disclosure agreement.”

“Do you think I’m going to talk about all of your deepest, darkest secrets?” Karlie laughs.

“You wouldn’t be the first.” Taylor shrugs. “It’s best to just get this out of the way now. It’s a lot less messy in the long run. I’ll sign one as well.”

“Is this how you start all of your friendships?”

“This isn’t a friendship, this is a business agreement.” Taylor corrects her.

“Who says romance is dead?” Karlie rolls her eyes, her hands reaching out for the contract. It’s pretty standard as far as non-disclosure agreements go, but Karlie reads over it twice just to make sure there isn’t some underlying clause that could cause her trouble once this entire fiasco was over with.

“So if I sign this you’ll help me get Derek out of this mess?” Karlie speaks slowly, indecision lining her face.

“You haven’t actually told me how you intend on saving your friend, so I can’t agree to anything yet. This is just something I have new associates sign. It prevents misunderstandings.”

“You really know how to butter a girl up.”

Despite her reluctance, Karlie puts her pen to the paper. She signs her name with the usual flourish, dotting her ‘I’ with a heart.

“A heart?” Taylor raises her eyebrows.

“Don’t flatter yourself, it’s my thing.”

“Your thing?”

“Yes. I’ve dotted the ‘I’ in my name with a heart since I was a kid. It just stuck with me.” Karlie shrugs. “Details that my future wife should know, by the way.”

“I am _not_ your future wife.” Taylor ears have reddened. It’s the closest thing to a human-like reaction that Karlie has gotten from the frigid blonde.

“I need you to pretend to be.”

“To…what?” Taylor looks genuinely confused, her haughty expression softening considerably.

“Pretend. You know, kind of like acting? I’m sure you’re good at it.”

“My parents aren’t…they’re pretty rigid in their values. They won’t accept this, even if it is fake.” Taylor trips over her words, and for a moment Karlie swears she sees fear in the woman’s eyes.

“Isn’t it about time you stood up to them? And when everything is settled, we’ll ‘break-up’ and you can go back to dating boring, stale men. It’s the perfect plan.”

“What do you get out of this? You say you just want to help your friend but no one is that selfless.” Taylor eyes her suspiciously.

Karlie shrugs amusedly, unable to fight the smile that is spreading across her face. “I get to help my friend, and it’ll get my mom off of my back for a couple months. She’s always nagging at me about working too much and not socializing.”

“And your parents won’t care that I’m…”

“A woman? No. They’re kind of used to it.”

Surprise flickers across Taylor’s face. She looks like she wants to ask another question, but Karlie already knows what it is. She gets it all the time.

“I’m not into the whole ‘dating men’ thing. Is that…weird for you?” Karlie had never considered that Taylor may be uncomfortable with her sexuality.

“What? No!” Taylor’s voice raises considerably, drawing attention to their secluded little booth in the back of the café. The blonde slides further down in her seat, mortification on her face.

“Really?” Karlie is skeptical.

“Really! I-I’m not like… _that_. Homophobic, I mean. I am not homophobic.” Taylor stutters, her face resembling the color of a tomato.

 “Oh. Cool.” Karlie takes another sip of her coffee, looking away to give Taylor a moment to recollect her bearings. “So, we can do this?”

“Can I think about it?”

“Sure.” Karlie finishes off her coffee, and then gets to her feet. “That’ll give me time to find you a ring.”

“I didn’t agree to anything yet.” Taylor has reverted to her usual cold state.

“If you were going to say no you would’ve done it by now. Call me when you’re ready.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

“Where did you get this?” Taylor’s voice is a sharp whisper.

Taylor looks over her shoulder, as if she’s expecting to see someone else wandering around the Kloss family’s gardens.

“It’s my grandmother’s. You don’t like it?” Karlie frowns. She thinks it’s a nice-looking ring. Smaller than someone like Taylor would be used to, but it had character. The diamond wasn’t big enough to be considered garish and Karlie thought the gold band would look nice on Taylor.

Then again, she wasn’t very good with jewelry.

“I like it.” Taylor assures her. “Isn’t it a bit inappropriate to be using your grandmother’s engagement ring for a sham? You should give this to the person you actually plan on marrying.”

“That person doesn’t exist. Marriage is an outdated social construct.”

“So you don’t plan on getting married?” Taylor looks at her like she has two heads.

“No, so I’m sure my grandmother wouldn’t mind me putting her ring to use. It would have stayed buried in my family’s safe if it wasn’t for you.” Karlie thinks her reasoning is sound. “Plus, my parents would know something was strange if I didn’t give it to you. We need people to think this is believable, no matter how far-fetched it seems.”

Taylor nods slowly, her mind working a mile a minute as she soaks in the information. “Alright, give it to me.”

“You don’t want me to get on one knee?” Karlie half-jokes, subtly tucking the ring back into the pocket of her jeans.  

“That’s not necessary. No one is around, we don’t have to put on a show.”

“My sisters have been following us for the last ten minutes.”

Taylor isn’t subtle at all when she quickly turns around to look behind them. There’s nothing there – but Karlie knows that the twins have ducked behind the large rose bush. The twins have been ducking and weaving behind things since they started following them.

“I don’t see anything,” Taylor cranes her neck, standing on the tops of her toes.

“We want them to think that we don’t know they’re there.” Karlie takes a hold of Taylor’s hand, pulling the blonde forward so that they can continue walking.

“Why would your mother send them after us?”

“Did you see how much her head was spinning when you knocked on the door? She’s probably trying to figure out why we’re hanging out.”

A moment of silence passes, and Karlie can’t help but notice that Taylor has not pulled her hand away from hers. She laces their fingers together, wondering if that would get Taylor’s attention. Karlie sees a flicker of surprise on the blonde’s face, and then Taylor starts to pull away altogether.

“So you still live with your parents.” Taylor clears her throat uncomfortably.

“I do.”

“Do you have mommy issues or something?”

“Excuse me?” Karlie narrows her eyes.

“You’re twenty-five and still living with your parents. You seem successful and settled into your career, so I’m sure you’ve had plenty of chances to get your own place. Why haven’t you?”

“Do you have your own place?” Karlie challenges, denial building up in her.

“I do. It’s a nice little apartment downtown.”

Karlie blinks slowly for a few moments. That had blown up in her face.

“I just never saw a reason to, I guess.” She tries to play the entire thing off.

“I couldn’t wait to get away.”

Karlie glances at Taylor, wondering if she had meant to divulge such a personal piece of information. It’s obvious that she hadn’t.

“How come–”

“So can we get this proposal thing out of the way? I have things to do.” Taylor interrupts her sharply, making it clear that she wants the topic to be changed.

“I can’t wait until we get divorced.” Karlie mumbles, abruptly dropping down to one knee to get this thing over with.

It’s all insanely ridiculous. She mumbles a few crappy words, just in case her sisters are still watching, and then holds out the ring. Taylor doesn’t even feign surprise – or joy, for that matter – and simply holds out her left hand and lets Karlie put the ring on her ring finger.

Karlie is smug when she notices how good the ring looks on Taylor’s hand, silently giving herself a pat on the back for choosing to use it. Maybe she wasn’t so bad with jewelry after all.

“How did you know my size?” Taylor asks as Karlie gets to her feet.

“Oh.” Karlie tilts her head. “I didn’t. I completely forgot about sizing it, actually.”

“Are you always so lucky?”

“Well I’m engaged to you, aren’t I?”

Taylor gives her a look, as if trying to determine if it’s a compliment or an insult. She doesn’t bother to find out, opting to finish their walk around the gardens before they had to face Karlie’s parents and break the news.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

The Klosses take it well. Karlie figures they would once they got over the initial shock, but seeing Taylor’s shocked facial expression is enough to make her day.

Taylor is stiff while Karlie’s parents take turns embracing her, all but welcoming her to the family. The blonde sends helpless looks in Karlie’s direction, silently begging for help. Karlie just smiles and motions for Taylor to reciprocate.

Taylor awkwardly wraps her arms around Karlie’s mother, looking as if she’s never experienced human contact before.

When all of the pleasantries are done, Karlie makes a vague excuse about Taylor needing to leave so she could make it to an impromptu work meeting.

“Are they always like that?” Taylor asks as they walk to Taylor’s car. It’s different than the blacked out SUV that Karlie is used to seeing Taylor chauffeured in.

“Yeah. My mom’s been trying to get me to settle down for a while.”

“They didn’t seem that surprised. And they were really…open-minded.” Taylor mumbles the last word.

“They’re used to it.”

“Do you bring a lot of girls around?”

“Nope.” Karlie is being honest, but she also doesn’t see why that’s any of Taylor’s business.

“Any other super personal questions you want to ask before you go?”

“Are you going to get my door?”

They’ve reached Taylor’s car, standing beside the driver’s side. Karlie musters a smile, wondering if this is how it’s going to be for the next few months.

“Of course, dear.” She reaches out and opens the driver’s side, reaching out with her other hand to help Taylor inside.

“Will you be there when I tell my parents?” Taylor asks before Karlie can close the door.

“If you want me there. I wouldn’t let you do that alone.”

Taylor’s eyes soften and a grin spreads across her face. Karlie promises to call Taylor later, tells the blonde to drive safe, and then stands there in her family’s driveway while she watches Taylor’s car drive through the manned gates and disappear out of view.

Karlie is left thinking about how attractive Taylor is when she smiles.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, sorry for the wait! Thank you for the kudos and the kind words!!

“What about an early spring wedding? I know it seems overdone but I really can’t see us throwing one in the summer. The heat would be terrible.”

Karlie is sitting in her family’s living room, manila folders and papers strewn out across the wooden floor in her attempt to get some work done outside of the office. She’s still full from the oddly elaborate meal her mom had made, and her eyelids are getting heavier by the moment. The fact that her mom and sisters won’t stop talking about wedding plans isn’t helping matters, either.

“Don’t you think early spring is pushing it? It’s almost November.” Kimby points out.

Agreements ring up, Karlie the only one remaining silent on the subject.

“I’m going to take my work upstairs.” She grumbles as she gathers her things.

“Don’t you want to talk about the wedding?” Her mother calls after her as she hurries for the stairs.

“I’m not in the mood.”

It only took Karlie a week to regret this entire plan of hers. As her family got more excited about the idea of a Kloss wedding, Karlie was beginning to feel like some sort of circus attraction. Her mother could think of nothing else aside from vows and flower arrangements, and her father had called her into his study twice to discuss the trials and tribulations of married life. As if Karlie would ever really subject herself to something so antiquated.

She finishes her work in the safety of her bedroom, with the door locked and her headphones in. Moments like this made her seriously consider looking for a place of her own. The thought made her think back to Taylor’s scathing words in her family’s gardens last week.

_You’re twenty-five and still living with your parents._

Karlie stares at her computer screen for a moment, and then ventures to a new tab. She spends the next hour browsing through various apartment and condo complexes, considering what it would be like to have a place of her own. Maybe she’d finally be able to get some peace and quiet.

Karlie is still deep in contemplation when her phone buzzes on her desk, its screen lighting up. She’s surprised to see who the message is from, half expecting to see Derek’s name on her lock screen.

**_Taylor, 7:43PM  
_ ** _Are you still coming to brunch tomorrow?_

Karlie rolls her eyes. As if she needed another reason to want to jump off the nearest cliff. She had completely forgotten about agreeing to go to the Swift’s country club to formally meet Taylor’s parents and break the bad news to them. Country clubs were just _not_ Karlie’s thing, and she still didn’t know what she was going to wear. Let alone what she would say to her fake fiancé’s parents.

**_Karlie, 7:47PM  
_ ** _Can I take a raincheck?_

****_Taylor, 7:48PM  
_ _No. Be there by 11, and please don’t  
 wear a power suit_

Karlie looked down at her outfit. She was, indeed, wearing what Taylor called a ‘power suit’. She didn’t see what was wrong with them, and had been planning on wearing one tomorrow. She looked good in them. Karlie wasn’t the best when it came to fashion. Clothes were just clothes. What did it matter if she was over or underdressed? Taylor was lucky that she was coming at all.

Despite her rebellious nature, Karlie navigated to her text thread with Derek. He excelled in the areas she lacked.

****_Karlie, 7:55PM  
_ _I need you to help me dress like a country club  
stooge so I can impress the in-laws_

****_Derek, 8:07PM  
_ _Be there in 15_

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

Taylor laughs when she lays eyes on Karlie the following morning. Karlie pointedly ignores her, pretending like she doesn’t notice as she hands her keys over to one of the teens handling the valet. He looks a bit too young for Karlie’s comfort, and she stresses that nothing is to be touched while he parks the car.

“How am I supposed to park your car if I can’t touch it?”

“You just lost your tip, smart ass.” Karlie rolls her eyes and brushes past him. She’s already in a foul mood, and the fact that Taylor is still looking at her and snickering doesn’t make matters better.

_At least she’s smiling._

The thought is fleeting, and Karlie pushes it aside as she walks up to Taylor and stops a few feet short of her. The blonde is hiding her mouth behind her hand, but she can’t mask the amusement shining in her eyes.

“What’s so funny?” Karlie huffs out.

“What are you…wearing?” Taylor’s voice breaks off at the end as a giggle escapes her.

“Not a power suit.”

“I knew you would wear one if I didn’t mention it. I knew you’d go for the prep school look instead but…” Taylor trails off, her giggles getting the best of her again.

“But what?!” Karlie snaps, her cheeks heating up. She’s starting to feel just a tad insecure.

“You’re dressed like a middle-aged golfer.” Taylor doubles over, resting her hands on her knees as she lets the laughter finally take over.

“I’m going home.” Karlie turns on her heel, looking around for the little weasel that took her car keys.

“W-wait!” Taylor reaches out for her, and the contact surprises them both.

Karlie looks down at Taylor’s hand resting on her bicep, and she feels a wave of nerves wash over her when she sees that Taylor is wearing the ring. It’s the first time Karlie has seen it on the woman’s hand since the day she gave it to her. Taylor had opted to not wear it around her family to prevent any unwanted questions. It was a stark reminder of what they were here to do.

“I was there when you told your family–”

“I could’ve told them by myself.” Karlie interrupts her, still feeling defensive.

“But you didn’t, because I was there. So I am asking you to do the same for me.”

Karlie knows that Taylor is right, but she doesn’t bother voicing it. She just shrugs Taylor’s hand off of her arm and turns back around, facing the country club’s entrance again.

“Let’s get this over with, then.” Karlie is surprised when Taylor takes ahold of her arm again, but this time it feels different. It’s similar to when they held hands in her family’s garden after they realized they were being watched.

This was strictly about appearances.

“My parents are already inside mingling with some of the other members. They’re not in the best of moods, and my father will be questioning you like this is Guantanamo. We’re going to be having brunch in the main dining room – I picked it because it’s as public as you can get around here, and my parents won’t make a scene. Do you remember the list of rules I gave you?”

Taylor doesn’t stop for a breath. They’re halfway to the entrance and Karlie feels like they’ve been walking for hours. She nods along to everything the blonde is saying, and then quickly recalls the main points on the little index card Taylor had given her a few days prior.

“Avoid discussing politics. Talk about my degrees and career as much as possible. Let you answer any questions about our relationship, and go along with whatever you say.”

“And don’t mention how close you are with the Blasbergs.”

“Why not?” Karlie falters in her step.

“It’ll make my dad suspicious, and he’ll start digging. You don’t want him to start digging. Trust me.” Taylor’s words hold weight, and Karlie is left feeling even more unnerved as they enter the country club.

Karlie can feel the weird looks almost immediately. At first she wonders if she’s wearing the wrong attire, but then realizes that the looks are focusing less on her and more on the intertwining of Taylor’s arm with hers. Country clubs aren’t exactly breeding grounds for progressive ideas, and Karlie suddenly feels like she’s back in high school. She settles her expression into a blank slate of cool indifference, her eyes piercing through whoever dares look in her direction. She’s not about to roll over and die for any of these elitists.

Despite the attention they are attracting, Taylor holds her head high and keeps close to Karlie’s side, leading her towards the main dining room.

The dining room is impressive, and Karlie allows herself a moment to admire the large vaulted ceilings and the imposing marble columns. She has heard that this is the best country club that money can buy, but her own parents had never seen a reason to be a part of something so trivial. Karlie liked to steer clear of them as well, but she had to admit that they looked nice. Too bad they harbored so many ugly people.

Taylor’s parents were seated at the table that was in the center of the hall. Taylor’s dad stood up the moment they came into view, and Karlie had to bite back the urge to shrink back.

“Mom, dad – this is Karlie. Karlie, these are my parents. Scott and Andrea.” Taylor made the introductions quickly.

Karlie shook Scott’s hand first. She maintained eye contact, and refused to be the first to break it. Scott Swift seemed like your typical alpha male. Karlie encountered men like him every single day – both in and out of work. She wanted to let Taylor’s father know that he wouldn’t be able to bully her, no matter how much weight his words had in their community. Taylor’s mom seemed a lot more pleasant, albeit a bit on the colder side.

“So Karlie, what are you drinking?” Scott asked as they all settled in, a server already waiting in the wings to take new orders.

“I’ll just have a water. What about you dear?” Karlie turned to Taylor.

“The strongest mimosa you have.”

The server didn’t look surprised by Taylor’s order, and neither did the woman’s parents. Scott had a hard look on his face, and spoke up once the server had bowed away to go get their drinks.

“Don’t you think it’s a little early to be drinking, Taylor?”

“It’s five o’clock somewhere, surely.” Taylor smiled, and nodded towards her mother’s own drink. “And if mom can, why can’t I?”

“Your mother didn’t drive herself here.”

“Karlie can make sure I get home safe.”

Karlie fiddled with the napkin that her silverware was rolled up in. She glanced between Taylor and her father intermittently, wondering what the story was there. Taylor had seemed like such a stick in the mud when they met. Prissy, cold and downright aggravating. Everything that Karlie had ever heard about the blonde insinuated that Taylor was still living under her family’s thumb. Karlie was starting to think that the Swifts were keeping their family business under a very tight wrap.

The awkwardness continued to rise as brunch progressed. Karlie ordered for both she and Taylor, surprised that they had settled on the same thing.  

“The French toast is amazing here.” Taylor promises as they hand their menus back to the server.

The blonde’s mimosa had come, and was quickly followed by others as the tenseness frayed Karlie’s nerves and tested Taylor’s patience. It wasn’t Karlie’s French toast was all but gone when Scott cleared his throat and spoke up.

“So, where did you attend school?”

Despite not being directly addressed, Karlie knew this was the beginning of her interrogation. She was surprised it had taken so long.

“I went to MIT for my bachelors and Harvard for my masters.”

“Impressive. What did you study?”

“I was a double major in Computer Science and Business Administration, and I minored in Sociology. I went to Harvard to get my MBA.”

The questions continued to come at her. How old was she? Where had she met Taylor? Did she work for her parents’ company because she couldn’t get another job, or was it simply because she liked contributing to the family business? What was her job position at work?

It was all so shallow. The questions were asked to see if she was wealthy, accomplished, and educated. Taylor’s parents didn’t ask about her hobbies, her goals, or what her intentions were with their daughter. It was like she was regurgitating her resume.

Karlie glanced over at Taylor a few times during the ‘interrogation’, and had to hold back a smile when she saw how utterly bored the blonde looked. There was even a point where it looked as if Taylor had dozed off, her chin resting in the palm of her right hand.

When their plates were taken away by the server, Taylor finally snapped to attention. Karlie could tell that now was the time, and she felt her stomach drop uncomfortably.

“Do you play golf, Karlie? You look like you’d have a mean swing.” Scott asked as he pulled his wallet out.

“Occasionally. It’s not a hobby of mine but it comes with the territory at work.”

Scott made a noise – Karlie daren’t convince herself it was an actual laugh – and then he started looking around for their check. He looked impatient.

_He’s probably where Taylor gets it from._

Karlie smiled at the thought, but her amusement was fleeting. Taylor had straightened up in her chair, and had moved her left hand to rest on the table in an _extremely_ obvious way. She had been keeping it tucked away as much as possible.

“Mom, dad…” Taylor trailed off, seemingly frozen in place when three pairs of eyes looked towards her. An uncomfortable stretch of silence occurred, and Karlie raised an inquisitive eyebrow when Taylor turned to her look at her. Taylor’s pupils were dilated, and Karlie was unsure if it was from the mimosas or if it was out of fear.

“What are you doing?” Karlie whispered, using her hair to shield her mouth from Taylor’s parents. “Do you want me to say it?”

Taylor didn’t respond verbally. She just gave a jerky shake of her head, and they stayed frozen in place for a moment.

“Are you scared?” Karlie had never considered the possibility of Taylor chickening out of this whole thing. Everything had been going so well, and it would be a waste to leave here today without doing what they came here to do.

“Terrified.” Taylor admitted.

Karlie reached out, giving Taylor the option to hold her hand. She was surprised when the blonde quickly answered, her hand resting in Karlie’s palm and their fingers intertwining. Karlie cleared her throat, hoping her face didn’t look as red as it felt.

“What are you two whispering about over there?” Scott grumbled, suspicion clouding his face.

“So, country clubs really aren’t my thing. I came here today because Taylor and I thought it would be a good place to tell you the news we’ve been keeping to ourselves for a couple weeks. I also wanted to meet the two of you before dropping this on you, and wanted to introduce myself to you as well.”

Karlie felt like she was suffering from word vomit. Taylor was squeezing her hand so tightly that she feared it would cut off her circulation, but she hid the discomfort easily.

“Taylor and I have known each other for a while now. We’ve been dating for quite some time – and it’s been hard to keep that to ourselves, but it was doable. We wanted to tell you now because it would be a bit hard to hide a wedding.” Karlie let the words hang in the air.

Andrea looked confused. Scott looked murderous.

“Absolutely not.” Scott shook his head. “You don’t have our blessing.”

Andrea glanced at her husband, but said nothing to refute his statement. Karlie was disappointed, but not surprised in the least.

“We didn’t come here to ask for a blessing, this isn’t the 1950s. We came here to tell you that I proposed, Taylor accepted, and now we’re getting married.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it.” Scott kept his voice low, proving Taylor’s earlier point of her parents not daring to cause a scene in such a public place.

“You don’t have a say in it.” Taylor had finally regained her voice. “And I’m tired of you thinking that you can treat me like I’m some child. Karlie is a wonderful person – as you saw when you were blatantly interrogating her – and you should be happy for me.”

“You’re throwing your life away. Think of what people will say. What they’ll think. Andrea, help me out here?”

Taylor looked at her mother, and there was a desperation in her eyes that Karlie had never seen before. Throughout brunch, Karlie had been unable to get a clear read on what Andrea Swift was like as a mother. She seemed friendly, albeit a bit quiet, and had a kind face.

“I think that Taylor is smart enough to understand the pros and cons of her decision. It’s not our place to tell her who she can and can’t be with, dear. She’s almost thirty.”

Scott was stunned, and he sagged in his chair when he realized that he was outnumbered. Taylor’s grip on Karlie’s hand loosened considerably, and the biggest smile was gracing the blonde’s face.

What progressed was something that Karlie had not been expecting. Taylor showed her mother the ring, and they talked about how Karlie had proposed in the gardens of her parents’ estate. Andrea gushed about how romantic it all sounded, and Taylor seemed to match her mother’s energy in that moment.

It was almost as if it were all real.

Taylor had had too many drinks to drive herself home, so she latched onto Karlie’s arm when it was time to go. Karlie told herself that it was still all for appearances. Taylor’s parents joined them for the walk to the valet pickup. Scott was stonily silent, but Andrea was chatting Karlie’s ear off like they were old friends.

She expected Karlie to stop by their home soon for dinner. Karlie said that she’d check her schedule to find her earliest availability.

After cars were brought around, Karlie helped Taylor into the passenger seat of her car and then tipped the kid from earlier, ignoring the sarcastic bow he gave her in return. He was lucky that he had caught her in a relatively good mood.

“That went well.” Karlie murmured, unsure what to say as she buckled her seatbelt and put her car in drive.

“Better than expected.” Taylor nodded.

There was little conversation between the two of them during the drive. Karlie was thinking about how happy Andrea had been to hear about the proposal, and she felt a sliver of guilt settle in her chest.

She wondered if Taylor was thinking the same thing, but didn’t have the heart to ask.


End file.
